George R. R. Martin Says His Game of Thrones Cameo Would Be in Season 4, Not 3

On Tuesday, Deadline reported that Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin would have a cameo in the upcoming third season of the HBO show, which debuts on March 31 and will be based on the first half of Martin’s novel Storm of Swords. But last night on the red carpet at the San Francisco premiere of the show, Martin told Wired that his potential cameo would occur not in Season 3, but rather in Season 4 — though he acknowledged that HBO had not yet officially announced the next season of the hugely popular fantasy epic.

“We’ve discussed [a cameo], but we haven’t even gotten an order for Season 4 yet, so it’s not gonna be in this season. I haven’t filmed anything in this season. If we do it, it would be season 4…. It’d be great if it could work out. I’d really like to do it,” said Martin, who noted that he also made special appearances on several other television shows he worked on, like the 1980s incarnations of The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast.

Asked what role he might play, Martin said, “I hope my character is sitting down, let me say that.” He added that he had previously filmed a brief appearance in the original pilot as a guest at Daenerys’ wedding where he had to stand for long hours of shooting, “so I’m standing there freezing and my back was killing me by the end of the evening. And I said, if I ever do another cameo, I’m going to have a nice comfortable seat…. Other than that, I don’t know.”

Of course, Martin’s season one cameo didn’t end up in the final version of the series premiere, so regardless of whether he films a Hitchcockian special appearance, there’s no guarantee that it’ll make it to the small screen.

In the meantime, we’ve had to settle for Martin’s hilariously metafiction cameo in last year’s Game of Thrones videogame as “Maester Martin,” a character who just happens to be composing a history of Westeros. The maester insists that the next installment of his work will be out “next year,” prompting laughter from another character who snarks that “he says that every year.”